The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a petition challenging a special court’s decision to conduct an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the allotment of a civic amenity site to the Siddhartha Vihar Trust, associated with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his family.
The petition was filed by Vijayraghava Marathe, state president of the Bribe-Free Karnataka Forum. He challenged the special court’s decision to conduct the inquiry itself instead of directing the Lokayukta police to register a case and investigate the allegations.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Lakshmi Aiyangar said the special court had earlier decided to proceed under Section 223 of the BNSS.
“Earlier, the court had ordered that the matter be proceeded with under Section 223 of the BNSS. We appealed before the High Court seeking a direction to try the case under Section 175(3) of the BNSS since the case was filed under prevention of corruption act. The court has allowed our petition and reserved the matter for orders,” Aiyangar said.
She added that under Section 175(3), the magistrate has powers to summon suspected accused for inquiry, while such a provision does not exist under Section 223 of the BNSS.
{{/usCountry}}She added that under Section 175(3), the magistrate has powers to summon suspected accused for inquiry, while such a provision does not exist under Section 223 of the BNSS.
{{/usCountry}}The case concerns allegations that the trust obtained a BDA civic amenity site by allegedly furnishing incorrect information under the Scheduled Caste category.
According to the complaint, an 8,125-square-metre civic amenity site in Banashankari was allotted to the trust. The petitioner alleged that the allotment was illegal and that Kharge, then a Union minister, used his influence to facilitate it. The complaint also alleges that the trust received a 50% concession in the lease amount in alleged collusion with BDA officials.
The petitioner further alleged that an alternative site in BTM Layout, estimated to be worth around ₹130 crore, was allotted to the trust within 10 days. The site was required to be developed within three years, but no construction was undertaken, the complaint claimed.
The special court had earlier declined to refer the complaint to the Lokayukta police, citing technical defects in the complainant’s affidavit. It instead decided to conduct an inquiry under Section 223.
The petitioner argued that the allegations warranted a proper investigation by the Lokayukta police.
The case also refers to allegations concerning land allotted in the Devanahalli Aerospace Park. The petitioner claimed the organisation concerned lacked adequate experience in aerospace and research when the land was allotted and returned it after allegations surfaced.
The petitioner maintained that returning the land did not wipe out the alleged criminality and that the circumstances surrounding the allotment required investigation.
The High Court’s order will determine whether the allegations are subjected to a formal Lokayukta police investigation.